Last Updated: 2 Jan 2024
Lendermarket review
Ratings
Loan types available
Personal loans
Payday loans
Loan characteristics
1-12 month maturities
Euro only
Buybacks
7 countries
Website and investment product features
Auto-invest
Manual selection
3 languages
What is Lendermarket? How does it work?
Lendermarket is a P2P investment site that was established in 2019 to fund the loans of international lending group Creditstar (corporate website here). Lendermarket is formally registered in Ireland (most likely for tax efficiency reasons) however we understand that business operations are primarily in Estonia. Previously, Creditstar had used Mintos as a funding source. Lendermarket has been adding additional lenders to its platform, which now includes Credifiel, Rapicredit, Dineo Credito and QuickCheck.
Lendermarket is very simple to use. It has functionality that allows investors to either select individual loans on the primary market, or use an auto-invest tool. At the moment there is no secondary market. However, we don’t think that is an issue because most loans are only 1-3 months in maturity currently.
The auto-invest function has all the usual options found on other sites. This includes country, loan term, interest rate, and loan originator. Lendermarket provides investors a weekly email that provides simple information about interest earned, principal received from investors, investments made, and cash held on their behalf. The site has good reporting functionality, allowing investors to see all activity on their account within a chosen time period, and it can generate statements.
Interest rates are currently between 12%-16% (although they tend to fluctuate). Most loans are short-term personal loans. All loans have buyback guarantees, including a group guarantee (i.e loans are guaranteed by both the issuer and the group). Loans are available from Czech Republic, Finland, Poland, Spain, and Estonia, Sweden and Denmark. Most loans appear to be coming from Creditstar Spain and Poland currently.
One thing to note is that Lendermarket does not want investors to send funds to them via services such as Transferwise, as it creates difficulties for them in performing the necessary AML checks. However this will not be a big problem for most European investors who will send funds via SEPA, but it may inconvenience some people.
Things have not been going well recently
Lendermarket has been experiencing a number of challenges recently. Most importantly, many investors have been reporting high levels of Creditstar ‘pending payments’ and loans with payment extensions. Creditstar has been attempting to issue new corporate bonds, and raise equity, for most of 2023, without any success so far it seems. For much of 2023, Lendermarket has been promoting high interest rates, and large bonus offers, in attempt to raise funds for Creditstar. This is not a sign of strength, and suggests that behind the scenes, the company is struggling with its liquidity position. The situation is very difficult to understand, as Creditstar has been publishing audited financial results for several years that shows that it is strongly profitable and a loan portfolio that appears to be well managed and stable.
To make things worse, in December 2023 the Lendermarket platform announced that it was ceasing to list new loans on its platform, while it was waiting to receive the necessary regulatory crowdfunding licence approvals. The delay in obtaining the licence will add further doubts about the Lendermarket platform, and it will also place further pressures on its largest loan originator Creditstar, which appears to be highly reliant on Lendermarket for funding.
What we like
What we don't like
- Interest rates are high
- A simple website that functions well
- Signup bonus available
- All loans have a buyback guarantee. Loans are repurchased by the lenders, and principal and interest paid, if loans become more than 60 days overdue
- Loans are from lower risk countries
- Uncertain future - waiting to receive regulatory licence
- Investors report high levels of loans that are delayed, extended and have pending payments
- Several recent changes to the management team
- Only available to investors with bank accounts in the European Economic Area and Switzerland
- Sending funds via Transferwise and similar services is difficult due to AML policies
- Loans are all originated by one lending group
- Lendermarket does not publish statistics on its total portfolio of loans
- No secondary market
Risk and return profile
Conclusions on Lendermarket
It is extremely difficult to make an assessment of the current situation with Lendermarket and Creditstar at the moment.
There is significant uncertainty about whether the site will obtain the necessary European crowdfunding licence it needs to keep listing loans on its platform. It has had a very long time to obtain a licence ahead of new regulations that came into effect and the fact that it has failed to obtain a licence on time is not a good sign.
There is also significant uncertainty in relation to Creditstar. It has reported strong levels of audited profits since 2012. However, it has been under apparent liquidity strains for quite some time now, which has shown up in excessive pending payment levels at both Mintos and Lendermarket at times.
A strong track record like this should have allowed the company to raise the necessary equity and bonds as needed to support the growth – that it doesn’t seem to have been able to do so raises questions.
There have been times in the past when Lendermarket has been a very good P2P site to invest – rates were good, loan availability was sufficient, and investors experienced minimal levels of ‘pending payments’ and extended loans. Everything worked well.
Over time the experience for investors has worsened and the site now appears to face issues relating to its regulatory approval status.
For now, until the issues with both its main loan originator Creditstar and also Lendermarket are resolved, we think that it makes more sense to look elsewhere to invest.
Other sites to consider
Mintos is the largest P2P investment site in Europe. It offers an excellent range of investments including secured loans. Over 50 lenders list loans on Mintos
Peerberry offers loans from multiple lenders. Rates are usually around 12%, and most loans have buyback guarantees. The site is easy to use and has a great design. Very similar to Lendermarket
Twino is another P2P site that has been established to fund the loans of a single lending group. That group was struggling financially for a while but seems to have now turned the corner. Site is very simple to use.
VIAINVEST offers loans from 5 countries. All loans come with a buyback guarantee. Simple site that works well. Run by a profitable company with a decent track record
Our legal page contains disclosures and the full terms and conditions of the use of the ExploreP2P site.
Platform stopped responding so progressed with a written complaint (Complaint to FSPO – Ref. [320636]) to FSPO in Ireland. Potentially bankrupt due to inappropriate covering of CreditStar one of major lender…
can you update these ancient considerations according to new realities of lendermarket ?
out of 50 loans, 45 are overdue, make your own conclusions
I signed up through your link and I actually just want to take advantage of the 4-year anniversary bonus.
Today is very interesting day for me at Lendermarket. After more than one year of being there I have 0 (zero) investments in current status and all of my 721 investments are in delayed. Of this, 542 investments more than 30 days. I wouldn’t say it is good performance.
September 2022 – the most poor performance on Lendermarket ever.
I have total of 565 investments, 506 is late now – 380 of this more than 30 days.
I have the same issue last weeks. Invested a lot there but during last weeks only some cents are coming back. Also looks like they have very poor client support. I wrote them several times and never got any response from there. I am not sure if they are facing some issues right now.
Evelin there is an active group on Telegram (‘Lendermarket.com P2P investor’) where people discuss any Lendermarket issues and in the past there has been regular responses and interaction from Lendermarket team members. It’s a pity that they have not responded to your emails though, that is not acceptable. What % of your portfolio is ‘current’ status?
I am not sure what is going on there. About 90% of my investments is in debt and I didn’t receive a cent in last two weeks (!). It is hard to believe when I have invested in 400+ loans which are 30+ days overdue now, none of them is paid. Even partially. I know there is Buyback guarantee and so on, but still – it is strange for me.
IF you now search who responds of this site: https://www.teatmik.ee/en/personlegal/12718041-SA-Financial-Investments-O%C3%9C
I will be better in mintos..
What is your concern/finding P2PTiger?
Thx for review and all your posts. I consider investing on lendermarket. I did not find any info about secondary market. Is there any? I do appreciate sharing your experiences.
Hi Roman. There’s no secondary market currently. But if you think you may need access to funds, you can find loans with short maturities (30, 60 days). It’s not as good as having a secondary market but it does mean that you can run down a portfolio fairly quickly if you do this.
It is funny that today, credistar loans on Mintos primary market offers 16,5 % interest, while on lendermarket they offer 14%..
Hi Alex. Rates are changing a lot every day right now. Definitely look for the best opportunities wherever you find them. 16.5% is a good return.
Indeed.
That’s the reason why for Creditstar loans I now take them on Mintos (again).
there’re 17% at mintos, but on lendermarket there’s a 2% cashback campaign till end of month that makes XIRR ROI sky-high 45.40 with those 25/30 days loans
Do you think is still safe to invest in this platform?
Thank you Oscar.
As far as I could see, the max interest rate is 12%.
Do you know if after 60 days payment delays, interests for these 60 days are paid
in addition to the normal interests? Or if they are not m lost?
Regards
Hi, you will receive any interest that is accrued but unpaid by the borrower. So you should receive a 12% return regardless of whether the borrower has been paying on time or not…